Omar Abdullah expresses dismay over JeI ban, says Centre should reconsider its order

Abdullah, who is the Vice-President of National Conference (NC), said ," after the outbreak of turmoil, JeI was banned for more than five years in 1990 but that ban served no purpose and achieved nothing.The centre should reconsider its recent decision,” Abdullah added.

“Our party and JeI are poles apart, ideologically. There is a stark difference in the disposition of both the parties. Having said that JEI is one of the socio-political organisations that have been contributing much towards education sector in Kashmir. There are number of schools that are being run by JeI in Kashmir. As per my knowledge over one lakh students are currently studying in these schools. I am of the resolve that the move will prove detrimental to the career of such students,” Abdullah said.

He said the move will inadvertently affect the peace building efforts. “We may disagree with the ideology of JeI but the move will unquestionably breed more radicalisation,” he said.

The NC Vice President said working on the root causes of violent extremism and developing effective counter narratives can lead to long term sustainable results. “But developing effective and counter narratives takes time and involves several steps. Banning will inadvertently shrink the space for dialogue, and rapprochement. The move will yield nothing other than glamorizing dissent,” he said.

“I urge the Government of India (GOI) to undo the move of banning JeI for the greater good of nation. Besides the move will dent the efforts for promoting education in Kashmir,” he said, adding “I hope pragmatism pervades upon GOI as far as this issue is concerned.”

He said the situation in J&K had improved drastically between 1996 and 2014/15 without having to resort to such bans. “There is nothing to suggest that this ban will in any way contribute to any improvement on the ground,” he added.

Image: UNI